Gaye family: Thicke, Williams ripped off soul legend

Music experts identified, in a combative legal filing on Monday, eight copyright-infringing similarities between the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up" and "Blurred Lines" by pop stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

The filing came in response to Thicke and Williams seeking a motion for summary judgment in a California federal court, where the legal drama over the multi-platinum hit song "Blurred Lines" has unfurled.

Music experts identified, in a combative legal filing on Monday, eight copyright-infringing similarities between the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up" and "Blurred Lines" by pop stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

The filing came in response to Thicke and Williams seeking a motion for summary judgment in a California federal court, where the legal drama over the multiplatinum hit song "Blurred Lines" has unfurled.

The Gaye family, represented by Nashville attorney Richard Busch, filed testimony from music experts and a mash-up of "Got to Give It Up" and "Blurred Lines." The Gaye family argued in the filing, with supporting research by musicologists Judith Finell and Ingrid Monson, that the two songs "share a constellation of similarities in hand percussion parts, bass lines, drum set parts, vocal melodies, backup vocals, accompaniment parts and instrumentation that cannot be accidental."

"Our response sets for in great detail the facts, law, expert analysis, and audio comparisons supporting our position," Busch said. "I believe it all speaks very clearly and we will rely on what we said therein. Beyond that, I can just say I am honored to represent the wonderful family of the great and legendary Marvin Gaye, and we all look forward to seeing this matter to its conclusion."

The filing also included large swaths of comments from Thicke and Williams that have been redacted, at least for now, because they are under seal by the court. Monday's filing indicates the Gaye family believes those depositions should be unsealed.

The situation is muddied because Thicke gave multiple interviews in which he said that "Got to Give It Up" helped inspire "Blurred Lines."

Thicke and Williams took preemptive legal action last year and filed suit against the Gaye family, which countersued. Earlier this year, Thicke and Williams filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing, among other things, that the Gaye family is trying to lay copyright claims to an entire genre of music that prevent new artists from recording songs inspired by the soul legend.

The motion filed on Monday by the Gaye family also argued that Thicke and Williams' music expert is flawed. And the Gaye family seems to be hanging its case on the mash-ups, which seems to show similarities between the two songs.